“I know.” And he did. He hadn’t expected anything from Cara, but the hot jolt of desire had been intense, the hunger devastating.
Quinn knelt before the hearth and stoked the logs. “What did you and the blue-skinned Warrior you shoved off the tower talk about?”
Lucan sat up and rested his elbows on the arms of the chair. He had forgotten about the Warrior after seeing Cara in danger. “He said we weren’t the only things Deirdre was hunting.”
“That doesna bode well,” Fallon said, his brow creased. “I assumed Deirdre had finally come for us.”
Lucan shook his head slowly. “She hasn’t come for us because I think she’s waiting on something, but what I don’t know. He made it sound as though taking us back with them would be an added benefit.”
“What did your Warrior have to say?” Quinn asked Fallon.
Fallon ran a hand down his face. “He knocked me senseless, and I think I blacked out for a moment. When I came to, he had Cara and he was telling her how they had come for her.”
“I heard him say something about a Demon’s Kiss,” Lucan added.
Fallon leaned back in the chair. “I heard that as well.”
“Well? What is it?” Quinn asked.
“I wish I knew,” Fallon answered.
Lucan rose and began to pace. There was too much going on that they didn’t have answers to. “I think Deirdre sent her wyrran after Cara.”
Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s a possibility. By the looks of it, they attacked the village first.”
“Looking for Cara, I assume. So then they came here?”
“Aye,” Fallon said. “I heard the Warrior tell Cara he smelled her. Her and her magic.”
“Shite,” Lucan murmured again. Magic, wyrran and Warriors. Deirdre definitely wanted Cara.
Fallon snorted. “If Deirdre only sent the wyrran and two Warriors, they weren’t expecting to find her here.”
“Then the Warrior I spoke to didn’t lie,” Lucan said. “They really were hunting something else.”
“Cara,” Quinn said.
For a long moment the brothers sat in silence. As much as Lucan hated to admit it, Cara was involved whether she wanted to be or not. Deirdre wanted Cara, but was it only because of her magic? If he were a betting man he would place a wager on the Demon’s Kiss, whatever that was.
“You’ll have to talk to her,” Fallon said into the silence.
Lucan sighed. “I know.”
“They’ll come again,” Quinn said. “They won’t stop until they get Cara.”
Lucan rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Aye. I know that as well. And we need to know what the Demon’s Kiss is as well as what kind of magic she holds.”
Quinn moved to Lucan’s vacated seat. “Next time, Fallon, you’ll be more of a benefit to us if you let the god out.”
Fallon glared at Quinn for several heartbeats. “Never,” Fallon growled before he stood and walked away.
Lucan waited until Fallon was gone before he looked at Quinn. “That could have been handled better.”
“It’s the truth, whether either of you want to believe it or not. The Warrior nearly killed Fallon. If he lets the god out, he’ll have more strength as well as being able to control his power.”
Lucan knew it all to be true, but he understood why his brother refused to give in. “I’ll talk to him. Until then, leave him be.”
Quinn shrugged, but Lucan saw his hand clench into a fist.
“Tell me about the village,” Lucan urged. He needed to know what he could and couldn’t tell Cara.
“There’s nothing left. The wyrran destroyed it all. They started at the nunnery, as far as I can tell. They didn’t spare the children.”
Lucan knew all too well how the wyrran killed. It had been them that had massacred the MacLeod clan. “Were none left alive?”
“Just one.”
By Quinn’s guarded expression Lucan guessed it was the old man who supplied them with food. “Angus?”
“Aye. He didna have long to live. He asked about Cara, told us to keep her safe.”
Lucan wished the old man had made it. He had information they could have used. Lucan glanced at the stairs, his thoughts on the woman who had stirred his desires and awoken a hunger he hadn’t known he had. It had been a couple of hours since Cara had run away from him. Was it enough time for her to realize he wouldn’t harm her?
“Putting it off won’t help,” Quinn said. “With Elspeth, it was always better to face something head-on. I cannot imagine it would be any different with another woman.”
Lucan stared at his brother. Quinn hadn’t spoken of Elspeth since the day she and their son had been murdered.
Quinn threw Lucan a wry smile. “Contrary to what you might think, I haven’t forgotten what it was to be human, to be a husband and father.”
“I never doubted it.” Lucan placed a hand on Quinn’s shoulder before he walked to the stairs.
“Be patient with her,” Quinn called.
Lucan just hoped she would listen to him. Seeing the fear in her gaze had been like a dagger in his chest. She had trusted him, and he had scared her.
He walked silently up two flights of stairs and down the corridor to his chamber. The glow of a fire flickered in the hallway, and he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. There weren’t many places Cara could have hidden in the ruins, but she could have tried.
Lucan hesitated at her doorway before he leaned his head around to peer inside the chamber. He found her curled on her side, her arm beneath her head. Every candle had been lit and placed around the chamber. With the candles in addition to the fire, the room was ablaze in light.
He leaned against the door frame and watched Cara sleep. In her hand she clutched something against her, as if she was afraid to let it go. She shivered when the wind howled through the window.
Lucan walked to the bed and covered her with another blanket. He wasn’t sure if it was fear or the wind that made her shake. It could be a little of both, especially after what she had seen that night.
Unable to stop himself, he ran a finger down the side of her face to her jawline. Petal-soft skin met his touch and made him burn. Though he knew he should keep his distance, he found himself sitting on the bed, her body curved around him. His blood heated, his heart pounded. God’s bones, how he wanted to taste her, to run his tongue over her plump lips and mold soft curves against him.
His hand moved to the end of her braid. With a flick of his fingers, he unbound her hair. He lifted a strand to his face and inhaled her fragrance of heather.
He closed his eyes, letting her scent move through him. His body throbbed with need, with a longing that only grew the longer Cara was near.
When he opened his eyes, he found her watching him. Her mahogany gaze held a hint of caution, but he also saw courage that warmed his heart. He waited for her to speak. She had questions, and he would answer them.
“Is the village really gone?”
He nodded. “Aye. The attack was on the village first.”
“Is anyone alive? There could be those who need care.”
Lucan glanced away from her face. “None were left alive.”
“Oh, God.” She put her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut.
He understood her pain. He had experienced much the same emotions upon seeing his clan gone.
She wiped the tears from her face and opened her eyes. “The children?”
He shook his head, unable to find the words.
Her tears came faster, her lips trembling. “What happened here tonight? What were those things?”
Lucan took a deep breath. “I wish it were easy to explain, but it isna. Those beings, those creatures you saw
